Craft Room Redo

(in December 2022, my craft room underwent another major adjustment, but I kept the same furniture. About two car-loads of "stuff" was carted away, making my room much more manageable)

Hi! My husband surprised me with a Craft Room Redo in 2014. Packing was very daunting, and "stuff" was in every room of the house during the changes. You can click on the photos to enlarge if desired, but I tried to fit as many as possible in as small a photo as possible.

It all started here, in our rural home...

This was taken when we still had cows - can you see them in the shade on the far left side? They look like tiny, black rocks.

The black "things" on the roof are solar panels.

BEFORE

First, the BEFORES (only hand-me-down furniture that was decades old)

The first piece of furniture we purchased 38 years ago was our triple dresser seen above and below.

That was in the days when solid wood was used, and much of the furniture sold in the USA was built in places like North and South Carolina and other states. Do you remember the "made in the USA" days? Or are you too young? (giggle)

And the 7-foot tall pine book case Jack built 25 years ago - nothing fancy, but sure does store a lot!

  

A 1960's super heavy wooden and formica desk from my mom's office, which required surgery with duct tape the past 2 years.

But it was heavy-duty and had been through a lot. I could put all my weight on it without being concerned that it might move.

It was perfect for those times I use a walker and require assistance.

  

Even the window seat contained make-shift storage and tools.

We don't have neighbors, so curtains were not necessary :-)

My computer desk is from my Mom's 1980s office - it, too, was very heavy duty with the "almond" color that was so popular in those days. The formica made it durable and easy to clean.

The heavy-duty filing cabinet/credenza was perfect for storage but was very bulky.

Jack built the stamp pad storage, which also holds the reinkers.

Fortunately, most of my wood-mount stamps had been sold 5 years ago.

The rest were displayed on "towers" Jack built, and on this "card display" case which we picked up for $15 at a store display close-out. The drawers were huge and held lots of "important stuff".

How do you store your punches? (closet doors and front and back of the entry door).
Jack built some 4" deep shelving units for more storage behind the entry door.
Those also had to be unscrewed from the wall and moved temporarily into the Master Bedroom.

The all-important die-cutting station shown below LOL - small area, yes?

The white towers are wooden - Jack made them about 10 years ago.

Two old, matching night stands to go with the 35-year-old dresser :-)

Farewell to the old...

Now comes the hard part - packing everything up:

 

 

NEW PAINT - NEW HARDWOOD FLOORS

My Stamp room actually has lots of natural light, but my photos did not capture it very well.

Next came the new paint, a grey-brown river rock color which is very outdoorsy, like my garden.

  

 

Remove the old stained carpet, and put in hardwood flooring.

MOVING BACK IN AND UNPACKING

A change to the new and recycled. 

We purchased 3 new bookcases and a new desk for the center of the room from IKEA's Hemne's group. (Sorry for the yellow tinged photos).

We kept the old heavy duty "almond" desks for practical reasons. Replacing them with comparable furniture was cost prohibitive for a "mere" craft room.

I'm sentimental. Therefore, the white "towers" Jack built were salvaged and used for storage.

After all the furniture was set up, my "super heavy duty" file cabinet was brought in (also from my Mom's old office suite). It takes up a lot of space, however, it is just the right height for a tall person such as myself. It has become my die-cutting, paper trimming, and scoring center.

The IKEA bookcases below are solid Pine with a grey polyester stain. They are actually a tad darker than the walls. I would love to have had the white counterparts instead, but they were made out of different materials, and not as durable. (isn't that strange? Same collection, but different materials)

It was nice that the bookcases hold the 12x12 iris drawers for paper!

Punches are hung back in their favorite places, minus several who now have new homes. 

All of my metal dies are stored magnetically in enclosed plastic binders on the one wide shelf. 

There is plenty of room to add more :-)

The remaining Stampin' Up! stamp sets are stacked on two shelves above.

I love my 27" iMac.

The closet is STILL a mess, but has fewer things in it.

Hopefully, the closet will be tackled next year. There were plenty of donations made to the local thrift store and to friends. It's a pleasure having a bit more work surface, too!

Thanks for visiting my little abode. Apologies for taking photos while it was dark outside.

UPDATE JUNE 1, 2016

Even though we may not know each other very well,

always I offer you my love and hugs.